Contents
- From Kim Kelley
Electronic Resources- What's New!
Hot Sites
For Your Information...
Faculty Corner
- ILS Hours and Locations
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From Kim Kelley
Associate Provost, Information and
Library Services
Welcome to 2006 and a new semester that we
hope will prove successful for you. To help you find answers
to all your research questions, Information and Library
Services (ILS) continues to create and implement ways to
make our online resources and services more accessible
to you and easier to use.
Through
a special arrangement with Google, UMUC faculty and
students can now access some of the full text articles
in our databases using a special version of Google Scholar. We'll explain the pros and cons and
tell you how to get access.
We're providing
a variety of learning opportunities this spring. An online, interactive, synchronous workshop will be offered on effectively searching ABI/INFORM, an important source for articles
in business and management. UCSP 611: Introduction to Graduate
Library Research Skills has been thoroughly
redesigned for graduate students and now includes video
clips, multi-media presentations, and interactive online
exercises. For faculty, there's a multimedia-rich CTL
workshop, Beyond Library Basics: Choosing, Using, but Not Abusing
Information Resources. And, for do-it-yourself learners, ILS has added a
new, online tutorial focusing on Finding Government Information.
This issue of
the newsletter also includes information on enhancements
to our electronic resources, a section covering Web sites focusing on citation resources,
and an introduction to our new
staff.
We remain
dedicated to providing the best services possible, and
we value your comments about any of our services and
resources. If you find something you would like to see
improved, please do not hesitate to contact
us.
Electronic Resources Database
Additions and Enhancements
-
Opposing Viewpoints Resource
Center
In response to popular demand, Opposing
Viewpoints is now available to an unlimited number
of users at the same time! This database is a good
first choice to begin searching for materials presenting
a point of view on important current events topics.
It includes articles, statistics, and Web sites.
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NetLibrary eBooks
We just added approximately 60
new titles to our NetLibrary collection! Included are
criminal justice, general reference, government,
management, and stock research eBooks. Many of
these new titles are available for downloading
to your computer.
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New Electronic Resource Interfaces!
A number of electronic resource
interfaces have been updated in order to make searching
easier for you! Here are some of the improved resources:
EIU Viewswire, Emerald, IEEE Digital Library, and
all ProQuest databases (ABI/Inform, Digital Dissertations
and Theses, and Newspapers, for instance).
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Hot Sites... Citation Resources
Whatever citation style you may need for
writing your paper, APA, MLA, Chicago or CBE, these Web
sites have great formatting guidance and citation examples:
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For Your Information...
Google Scholar
In cooperation with Google, ILS provides
access to the Google Scholar Web site with links, when
available, to full text articles from the library databases.
Our librarians have been busy testing Google
Scholar to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses. On
the positive side, Google Scholar uses the familiar Google
interface. In addition, it retrieves more scholarly materials
than can usually be located with a Web search.
However, there are some drawbacks as well.
Be aware that Google Scholar indexes only a small fraction
of the information available in the library databases.
You can find many more scholarly, full text articles
by searching the databases directly. Further, you must
be selective when reviewing a Google Scholar search because
it retrieves a wide range of materials, many of which
are not peer-reviewed. In addition, because the Google
search engine orders retrieval based on the number of
times a site has been referenced, older materials tend
to appear first in the list. Use the advanced search
option to limit your search to more recent materials.
Finally, some Google Scholar links charge users to access
the article. Before paying for a document online, be
sure to check UMUC library resources, including Journal
Finder, the USMAI
catalog, or request the material free through our Get
It Delivered service.
The standard Google Scholar URL will not link to full
text material in UMUC databases. To be able to click
on a “Find It @ UMUC” link that will lead you to the
correct database for the full text article, you need
to do the following:
- Choose Search
by Subject from the library Web page and select
a topic.
- Click on Web Sites and select Google
Scholar.
- Provide your name and UMUC barcode,
EMPLID or SSN.
- Search in Google Scholar and review
the results.
- If the article displays a "Find
It @ UMUC" link, select to read the full text
article.
New Tutorial: Guide to Finding Government Information
Government documents should not be overlooked
when doing research. The United States government is
the largest publisher of information in the world. Whatever
your topic, they have produced information on it. The
library has a new tutorial designed to help you locate
and use this information in your research. The tutorial
will help you locate government information in library
databases, print depositories, and on the Web. It can
be accessed from the Learn How To page from the library
Web site: http://www.umuc.edu/library/learn.html
In addition, the tutorial also has a Guide
to Finding Government Information by Subject to assist
you in your research: http://www.umuc.edu/library/tutorials/government/subjects.html
New Online Student Workshop -
ABI/Inform
This spring ILS will offer an interactive,
synchronous, real time workshop on effectively searching
the library database ABI/INFORM. Students will be able
to register for the workshop through the library's
home page and the workshop will take place in ILS'
Virtual Library Classroom, VLIB101 on WebTycho.
ABI/INFORM is a highly used database
by UMUC faculty and students in all areas of business
and management, including accounting, finance, marketing,
and international business. The workshop will cover
advanced searching techniques and demonstrate how to
view company and industry reports in the database. Participants
will view a slide show of screen shots while listening
to a librarian explain how to effectively use the database.
In addition, participants will use instant messaging
to interact in real time with the librarian about any
questions they may have. Please
visit the ILS Web site for more details.
New Look for UCSP 611 – Introduction
to Graduate Library Research Skills
UCSP 611 is a seven-week faculty-mediated
course taken in the first six credits of a Graduate School
of Management & Technology program. This course was
launched in the fall, but has been revised for spring
to include multimedia, graphics, and the most up-to-date
information. UCSP 611 teaches students how to conduct
research in their discipline, formulate viable research
questions, select tools for research, locate relevant
research materials, evaluate sources, and cite in APA
style. In addition, students will receive an in-depth
introduction to the library tools necessary to be effective
as graduate students. Students learn to efficiently and
effectively use a variety of electronic retrieval systems
including the online catalog of the University System
of Maryland and affiliated institutions (USMAI), UMUC's
subscription databases, and the Web. This course is required
for all graduate students, including MBA and Doctoral
students. All new UMUC GSMT faculty will be automatically
enrolled in UCSP 611 for faculty. Participation in the
course is highly recommended for new faculty, but not
required.
New Library Staff
If you contact the library, you'll notice
some new staff to assist you. We have hired additional
staff and have also replaced some staff who moved on
to different places. Meet the new library staff:
- Robert Miller and Elaine Sullo have
joined the staff as reference and instruction librarians.
- Luella Hackett works on special
projects and is responsible for a variety of administrative
functions in her role as Program Management Specialist.
ILS also has several staff changes to announce
for the spring:
- Joe Rawson, a reference and instruction librarian,
has assumed responsibility for 24/7 after-hours reference
service via chat, e-mail, and phone.
- Sara Godbee, formerly the library technician
for interlibrary loan, has become the library associate
for Interlibrary Loan.
Top
Faculty Corner
CTL 607: Beyond Library
Basics: Choosing, Using, but Not Abusing Information
Resources
Register for our Spring offering of
our faculty workshop: Beyond
Library Basics: Choosing, Using, but Not Abusing
Information Resources, being offered online through
the Center for Teaching and Learning, Monday, March
27 through Friday, April 7. When initially offered last August,
faculty were enthusiastic: "The workshop was well-prepared
and directly relevant to our needs in the field." "This
workshop is outstanding..." "Absolutely splendid
workshop!"
Enlivened by scenarios and multimedia
learning objects, this workshop focuses on easily
finding and effectively and legally using information
resources. It will be co-taught by Information and
Library Services and Center for Intellectual Property
staff.
The course includes tips and tricks
for advanced database searching in your discipline
and easier ways to select resources to create more
successful assignments. You will discuss methods
to better combat student plagiarism while learning
how to avoid violating copyright law inadvertently
yourself and will grapple with the challenge of getting
your students to evaluate resources and cite them
properly.
Library
Instruction in Your Class
UMUC librarians are happy to visit your
class to provide library instruction, either face-to-face
in the Washington DC metropolitan area (often in a computer
lab where students get hands-on practice) or worldwide
in the WebTycho classroom. A visit by a librarian often
helps students get started more quickly with their research,
and helps them to locate and identify quality research
sources.
When requested, a librarian will post a
conference in the WebTycho classroom that provides an
overview of library services, information on evaluating
resources, guidance on searching databases, help with
documenting sources, and more. The librarian monitors
the conference, usually for one week, answering students'
questions and providing feedback on their research. When
you arrange a visit, the librarian will work with you
to tailor the library conference to meet the needs of
your class.
To request library instruction, please
fill out our online form, Faculty Request
for Library Instruction. We're looking forward
to the visit!
New Acquisitions
View a list
of some of our recent
acquisitions in distance education, adult education,
assessment, instruction, and instructional design.
If you are in Adelphi, visit ILS in SFSC 2255 and browse
through our collection. If you would like to borrow
any of the books from the ILS collection, you can request
them through the library catalog.
Books can be picked up at one of the libraries of the
University System of Maryland and affiliated institutions,
or delivered by mail if you live outside Maryland within
the continental United States. If you live abroad,
send us an e-mail for
information about borrowing these titles.
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ILS Hours and Locations
 Need
to find us? Please visit Locations and
Hours for more information.
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